South Korean military apologizes for shooting at passenger jet

Asiana Airlines offers you a free traditional South Korean Military welcome to Incheon Airport.

The South Korean military have apologized for shooting at a Asiana Airlines passenger jet carrying 119 passengers and crew last Friday.

The plane was preparing to land at Incheon International Airport, 70 kilometres west of Seoul, when two soldiers fired at the aircraft after mistaking it for a North Korean military jet.

The soldiers were on Gyodong Island near the North Korean border. After they had fired off 99 rifle rounds, they reported the incident.

The South Korean military claims the rounds were only warning shots from K-2 rifles, and there was no damage to the aircraft because it was out of range.

“I sincerely apologize for causing the public concern over the incident,” Col. Lee Bung-Woo, spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Monday.

Newarped has a couple of problems here. Why does it take 99 warning shots to make a point? Also blokes with their fingers on the trigger of their rifles who can’t tell the difference between a brightly coloured passenger jet and a military jet have recognition issues.

We can only hope these eagle eyed soldiers don’t end up in charge of a missile battery.

The aircraft, on its way from Chengdu, China, was “flying on its regular route under command of the flight control tower,” Asiana Airlines spokesman Ki Won Suh said.

Asiana confirmed two other flights flew on the same route 20 minutes before and after the firing incident, raising questions about why only one flight concerned the soldiers. The passengers and pilots were unaware they had been fired upon until they landed.

“We understand the guards need more education on how to distinguish civilian airplanes,” said Lee, the military spokesman. But the South Korean military said it will not reprimand the two soldiers because they acted in accordance with procedure.

What kind of procedure condones shooting at a passenger jet? Obviously a South Korean army one.